The Dale Jr. Download - 187 - Redskins, Bowfishing, and Throwing It Back To 1999

Episode Date: August 9, 2017

Dale Earnhardt Jr. reflects on a week that saw him unveil the car he'll race for his final Cup start at Homestead, a family bowfishing adventure, a disappointing weekend in Watkins Glen and a day at training camp with his beloved Washington Redskins. Check out Dirty Mo Media on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DirtyMoMedia  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

My racing career isn't just about me. It's about the team, the fans, the sponsors, the families, the tracks, the whole sport. Join us over the next five months on the Junior Nation Appreciation Tour, where we show appreciation to where it's owed. This is Dale Jr., and you're listening to Dirty Mo Radio. Thanks to Hopeless Records for providing today's theme song, The Permanent Rain, by the Dangerous Summer. All right, Tyler, let's get right to it, man. This Watkins Glen race wasn't a very good weekend for us at all. It was pretty forgettable, yes.

Okay, well, let's forget about it. The car was really off right off the truck, had a lot of trouble with getting speed in practice. That's been a track where we've ran in the top ten in practice and seemed to qualify well. Last couple years, the road course had been pretty strong for us. So I was surprised, really floored, actually, that the car was as bad as it was. was when we got there we tried to work on it tried to fix some problems couldn't really uh nail exactly what was going on and get the car to drive properly but anyhow we started the race and i don't know where we were running maybe 25th 27th or something like that i thought we had

enough you know speed to run just barely in the top 20 that's about it looking at it you know the finishing order we might have been able to look out of some strategy and get a better better finish position than that. But looking at some of the guys and where they finished, I think that we had no better than a 20th place car. The whole company really struggled somewhat. The 24 had some good fast times at parts of the weekend, but I don't think he was very happy with his car either talking to Chase. I'm not quite sure. I think, you know, the, with the repave at Watkins Glen and the new tire, what works and what you might use at both racetracks,

both Sonoma and the Glen, isn't going to work anymore. You really have to have two completely different approaches with the setup, and we certainly learned that. It slapped us right in the face. And all right, you know, so the car's not great. I'm out there, we're running, we're kind of coming toward the end of the first stage,

and we had a little strategy that we were working, on to pit early and then we lost some power in the motor I didn't know exactly what it was I thought maybe possibly had a battery going down or there's some fuel issue in the pickup going up the hill through the S's it was cutting out pretty bad sometimes when you're going up a hill or in lateral load it might be a fuel issue if it starts to spit in those situations so we ended up coming to pit road they lift the hood they look under the hood and there's the valve the valve cover has a hole in it from where

the push rod got pushed up through the valve cover. When the rocker, with the valve spring breaks, the rocker arm gets kicked around and off and the lifter hits the push rod and knocks it into the valve cover over and over and over until it knocks a hole in it. And eventually

the push rod will become stuck and lodged into the valve cover. So that's what they saw. It's not something they can repair They could, you know, put a vowspring on there, send us back out, but there's parts and pieces in the motor now that's going to probably spin the barons and tear the motor up worse.

For them to be able to diagnose what went wrong, they need to take that back as it is. And so that's why we didn't make an effort to finish. We probably could have tried to get back out there and compete for some more laps, but not that it would have gained us much on the track. I think Larson had a similar deal Saturday, and like they kept running and eventually it just blew the motor.

Yeah. And then they can't really look at that and see what happened first, you know, and diagnose the issue to keep it from happening again. But it was a similar issue. It's something to do with that batch of springs. And I've seen this before. I've had this come through, D.I. And, you know, it's just like a, it's like a cold that kind of floats through the shop. And you don't, you can't fix it until you understand what.

batch of springs to get rid of. And it can be quite costly, actually. So hopefully it's not too serious of an issue to fix. It doesn't really put the company in a bind, but I know those guys in the shop are going to get that sorted out, and we won't have that problem going forward. So, yeah, that was pretty much our race. Yeah, it was it.

The rest of the race, something that people were talking about, it was the shortest full-distance NASCAR Cup series race that ran in its entirety. two hours and seven minutes to run a cup race I know I thought it went by so fast and I don't think that anybody I don't think it's a bad thing

you know I don't think that it anybody walked away if going hmm I feel like I won't see some more racing yeah um or wow you know why is the race so short there was drama you know as it came down to the end I know we weren't able to watch the race but we're in the plane flying home with Wi-Fi able to follow along on social media and it was drama sort of trying to figure out who was going to make it and who was it.

I was, you know, even though I wasn't watching the race, I was entertained by what was happening. From what I was reading initially, I was like, oh, Trux's going to run out, because Laossey's going to run out. And I was like, oh, it appeared Blaney from what we were reading on Twitter. It looked like, oh, Blaney's going to win. Yeah, and I talked to Blaney, and he felt the same way. He felt like with the information he was getting from his team that he was more confident in his ability to get to the end without having to pit for fuel.

But they had miscalculated a bit on how much they really had. So it was interesting. I guess a lot of people may be surprised that Martin made it, but he did the right thing as far as trying to understand how much to save, and he was very extreme on his measures to save. And I know that stung for Matt Kenseth to come up short, needing a win, need and establish himself into the chase, and to come up with a second had to be very frustrating.

And we were hard on NASCAR whenever they were throwing the mystery debris caution, So kudos to NASCAR. This is recently since all the hoopla about debris cautions, they've been letting these races play out. So kudos to them for letting them race normal. Absolutely. I mean, and I've seen this in the past. You know, there'll be a race where it seems like there's a lot of debris yellows.

There'll be a lot of blow up about it in the media or from the fans or even from the drivers like myself. NASCAR will, I don't know if they're reacting or not or intentionally. not reacting, but then there'll be a string of races that sort of don't have any debris yellows and everybody's happy again until we'll go to somewhere like Dover and have a long, boring race that people didn't like, that didn't have enough yellows, and then you start to see those debris cautions come back, particularly in the chase when there's a lot on the line for the sport.

Yeah. When there's needs to be drama, you better believe that there's going to be some drama. Yeah. but so kudos right now keep it up another thing that came up over the weekend where you had some i don't think they were strong comments i think maybe they're enlightening comments about driver salaries and the current silly season right because obviously there's a couple high profile drivers looking for rides which we expect them to find rides yeah i was trying to explain uh so the where the where the where the business is and where the

you know, why we're seeing the things happen that we're seeing. And, you know, yeah, I didn't think I was saying anything that wasn't true. And I thought I gave correct answers to the questions that I got asked in the Media Center. The narrative, I think, that's what great about, that's what's great about doing the podcast is we can, you know, it's here. It's audio. You hear me. You can't take that out of context, right? And I feel like at some points in that discussion since then that some of my, my, my,

Some of my comments or statements were a bit out of context. I think one of the narratives that came out of it is that I thought that veteran drivers were overpaid. And that's not something I ever said. I said that I think that I might have been overpaid, you know. And what I mean by that is when I got my first contract from Rick, I didn't even, I wouldn't, I refuse to look. at the base salary numbers and all the percentages. I didn't want to know any of that stuff because I've always, I've not, you know, I've had a hard time in my life sort of feeling worthy of things and worthy of moments and accomplishments

and appreciation. So that was another, that was a situation where I was like, you and Kelly handle that. I don't want to even know what it is. It's going to stick in my head. So I've always felt over-appreciated, I guess, or, or, or, or, you know, or, or, you know, or whatever you want to, you want to, whatever you want to call that.

But I was blown, I've been blown away, I guess, by my, what this, what kind of, you know, what, what, what, what I've made, what kind of lifestyle this is provided for me. It's more than I ever dreamed, right?

So, but in a healthy situation, an established team, major corporate sponsorship support, manufacturing support, that more than likely is going to give any driver for that team more leverage. Right, it's a trickle-down effect.

Yeah, to obtain the type of deal that they won't. I think that that's still achievable. I'm never meant to say that, or never meant to imply that everybody's got to understand that this is scaling back. Because there are teams out there that are still able to secure that type of sponsorship and haven't seen a decline in funding.

And those teams can afford to pay drivers X amount of money. And those drivers have every right to get what they feel is their worth. Which is no different than any other sport. Like a guy coming into, we'll just use Steph Curry as an example. When he signed his rookie contract, there's no way it was five years, 200 million or whatever his contract is now. he earned his up in salary. Right, of course. Which is why a veteran would be inclined to make more money.

Yeah, and expect to make more money. Right. But the first deciding factor on how much a driver is going to make really is how much funding that team has. And if that team has a healthy package of sponsorship and manufacturer support, then that driver has a better opportunity to get a really good deal. Before we got to Walkis Glen, we obviously had the, what'd you call it huge car unveil for homestead? Yeah, I was really, I had a great time.

We brought back this show that we used to do all the time on QVC called for race fans only. It ran for 17 years every week, I believe, on QVC. Me and my father were on it quite a bit, and it was a lot of fun. It was weird and kind of awkward at times back in the day because you might be on there actually talking about your career, but selling someone else's souvenir because it was a show that sold everything throughout the sport, not just your cars and your dockass.

Of course, there was going to be some features with you being there on your own stuff, but you might be talking about a, you might be talking about a throw rug and they'll have all the drivers throw rugs out there, not just yours. This is a nice Ricky Stenhouse.

And I hope they bring the show back. We had a great night. QVC was thrilled. They had a lot of sales. and I think that that would be great for the drivers. The drivers really feel like that the souvenir business is not meeting expectations. There's been some adjustments there with the haulers coming back. A show like for race fans only that the drivers could be a part of would be a big boost

for the souvenir industry. And I think the fans enjoy the show. Plus it gives them the opportunity, like the people calling in, how often are they going to get to ask you a question? And they're engaging with the show and purchasing something, getting to talk to you. Yeah. So it's actually really cool. I hope that they'll bring it back.

I mean, it doesn't necessarily need to be an hour. Maybe it's 30 minutes or something like that. They got to be able to make it worthwhile for themselves. So we'll see what happens. But yeah, definitely. It's great to bring it back out of the moth balls. Yeah. As soon as we posted it on Facebook and Twitter, people were like, hell yeah, I love that show.

Right. Well, they might bring it back. I will be anxious to see. A lot of everything I read about the car was very positive. Sure. Yeah. And I anticipated it. I didn't think anybody was going to be like boo, bad choice. I anticipated it to be a great reaction. And I was certainly one that was going to enjoy it. And, you know, Mike Davis was telling me about him putting it on his Facebook page and all the guys from that team being able to rat, you know, share their reaction through that and knowing that that's it, you know, impacting them in a positive way is awesome. Because that's what it's about. You want the fans to enjoy this, the people that had involvement in that car, in the career, you know, in the career, you know,

you want everybody to have some involvement and some enjoyment out of it. So I think that we're going to accomplish that running that car. I can't wait to run it. I'm not in no hurry to get the season over with. You know, I'm really looking forward to the next few races and going to each track and having some fun driving the car. but Homestead is going to be incredible now, even more so, with this paint scheme. And then people again brought up the bleached hair. Yeah, I don't think that Amy even wants it to happen.

I don't really want to do that. And I guess Fami was to persuade me. I'd probably do it. But me and her both are sort of on team. No highlights. Oh. But you will have the fire suit that looks just like it. We didn't show that off the other night.

But the fire suit's going to be like that. Yeah, we didn't take advantage of the opportunity we had to do that. Me and you both had the fire suit in our hands, and it looks like the old original fire suit, except for the exalted logos, obviously, but very cool to be able to put those colors on one more time. And another thing that happened last week was you were tweeting and Instagramming from your bowfishing adventure with Kerry and Jeffrey, which I had no idea what bowfishing was. I didn't either. I mean, I imagine I knew, you know, I kind of had a theory or an idea or what to expect.

but yeah so my um my brother is all the time trying to talk me into going and doing activities with him that he likes right so it'll be uh elk hunting which was great i did enjoy that uh and so he's like let's go bow fishing got to go bow fishing in the middle of night now i know you don't have to do it at night but that's when he wanted to go late in the evening so we uh i'm thinking all right what's you know Amy's like, go. You never spend any time with him. She's persuaded me to go ahead. And I said, well, let's get Jeffrey to go too.

My nephew, because I don't get to spend much time with him even though we race together. Jeffrey came over to the house, picked me up. We rode over to the boat ramp. Met Carrie got the boat in the water. Jeffrey bought a long extra bow for me. So these bows are just like compound bows that we use to hunt deer, except for they have a reel on them. Like an old rod. reel like the encased reel that you would use as a kid that has a little lever you push to cast

it has that kind of a real basic reel on it that reel has a line obviously tied to the arrow you put the arrow in the bow all right you release the reel and you wait and you just pull it back with your hand there's no release like we use in bow hunting for for deer either it's really simple you pull it's not a hard bow to pull back it's very easy the arrow is only going to go 10 feet but You know, you're trolling around. We were trolling in, like, a foot and a half, two foot, three foot, four foot deep water. We could see the bottom, really easy looking for carp and bottom feeders and stuff like that, garfish. And Jeffrey shot and hit one, and so it's right out of the gate.

He's got this big old carp, right? And I'm thinking, man, that's cool. So I'm trying to see one and we're trolling along about eight mile an hour. I'm thinking it's too fast, but Carrie says you've got to go quick kind of with the troller because they're busting out of this, you know, wherever they're at. They'll be gone before you get there if you're not in a hurry. But it doesn't give you much time. Right.

To shoot. You know, they're kind of almost past you or under the boat before you realize, you know, before you get the thing drawn back. So you don't have much, there's no aim or there's no sight on the bow. So you just kind of shooting from the hip, really. There's no, you know, you don't look down a barrel or anything. thing. There's no way to really target the fish. You're just shoot in its direction. That's pretty much how it happens. So I'm over the course of the evening, I might have shot 12 times and missed every

single time. Oh, so you didn't get one? No. Oh, no. It's really hard. Yeah, it seems very hard. So, but the first, the first five minutes, Jeffrey shoots one, and he's a big time outdoorsman, no surprise. We get back, we're going back in this cove. Carrie's got this kind of a rough, he's got a rough troller motor, bang banged up a little bit. He runs the damn thing into the ground and knocks the head off of it. So he pulls it up. He's like, oh, I just got to put a screw in there, we'll be fine.

He, uh, he's trying to get this, you know, screw ran into this thing. And Jeffrey had to get over there because he's got a little more muscle than Carrie to get the job done. We get this thing put back together and now it won't, it's not running. So somehow another might have got water in it or whatever and ruined it. So we sit there for 15, 20 minutes trying to fix this thing. I mean, we ain't been in there in the water for 15 minutes, and this has happened. We had to run over six miles to another buddy's house, bar his trolling motor to finish the night. But I know it didn't go like my brother hoped it went.

And I know he was a little bit embarrassed, but I promised him that we would go again soon as he gets back in town. How long do you spend doing this? You can, we went out and got in the water around 9, 10 o'clock and, and Kerry, you know, you can be out there all night, four in the morning. Yeah. Are there other people out there? There's other people out there. There's other people fishing. It's not that many, maybe a couple here and there.

There's people that fish in the middle of the night. But this time of year, the water's real warm. So the fish are, the fish are real low. The fish, you know, the fish aren't going to be in this shallow water near the edges of these islands and so forth. they're going to be out in a deep water low where the water's colder. So we need to go some other time a year when the temperature and the water goes down a little bit. So they'll move out toward the edge, you know, toward the banks a little bit. Sounds like an interesting hobby that I don't know that I want any part of.

Well, I would Google a little bit. I saw the one video you posted. It's really laid back. It's great if you're with friends or family. You know, it's an opportunity for me and Kerry and Jeffrey to spend time together that we don't never do. We don't never, none of us take initiative to do that. And it's here. It's right here.

We just go down the road and do it. So it's not like we've got to make big plans. You don't have to take anything with you. Can do it on a whim. You can do it on a whim. Yeah. So I enjoyed it. We had a couple beers and, you know, joked with each other and pick on each other a little bit.

Now that we've talked about Jeffrey, people are going to ask you to put Jeffrey in the car again. I know. It's coming. But, oh, well. Yep. And today, this is going to be the fun part of this podcast. Oh, the most fun part. Yeah, the most fun.

We literally just got back. We were in Richmond all day promoting the upcoming races. You're running Xfinity and Cup. And then we had the Washington Redskins intertwined. I'll let you tell all the story about everything we did. All right. So I'm a big Redskins fan. I've been a big Redskins fan since 1982.

Anytime I get an opportunity to do anything Redskins related, I'm excited. I've been to training camp before. Been a few games. Met some players along the line. It's been great. several players have came to the races from time to time. So that's an experience that I always enjoy. It's rare that we actually get to intertwine and wire together NASCAR and the Redskins,

or my job and their job. So today was a perfect example of being able to do that. We had to do a Winter Circle appearance for Richmond where we go to the racetrack and promote the event coming up in September. We're going to race the Xfinity car on September the 8th and the Race Cup car on September the 9th. Richmond Raceway would love for you to go to their website and buy tickets. But all the drivers are sent to these racetracks throughout the year to promote these events. And this is one of mine, one of the winter circles I was assigned to.

So we got ahead of this and started talking to the track and said, let's try to figure out how to incorporate the Redskins, training camp, and everything that's going on around the Richmond area into this winter circle, get a big buzz. And we had a race car at the track, which we'll talk about that in a little bit. but we had a race car to track to take some of the drivers around for a few laps. I mean, some of the players. So we had Kirk Cousins show up.

We had Josh Norman. We had Compton, Will Compton, one of the inside linebackers. Morgan Moses came and Ryan Carrigan. We invited a handful of the guys, about 12, 10 or 12 players, but those are the ones that ended up being able to show up. We took the mayor of Richmond around the racetrack in the race car for about five laps. and it started getting really, really loose. So we came in the pits.

I was like, here, give me the wedge wrench. I'm going to put some wedge in this car. This guy I know, it's a bunch of people there, right? So there's people all around. But luckily, there was a guy there that I've raced with before, and he was like, hey, there's a bunch of grease underneath this thing. It's leaking out the rear-en-housing. So that's why it was getting loose.

All this grease coming out of the rear-en-house and getting all over the rear tire. So we got into a Chevy Camero to give the football players' laps around the track. Now, we ran about 90 through the corner and 115 going down the straightaway. Yeah. Watching from here road, you couldn't tell much of a difference going down the straightaway. Yeah. The Camaro probably went about 15 mile an hour slower down the straightaway.

Probably similar in the corner speed-wise, probably five, maybe 10-mile-hour difference in the corner slower in the Chevy Camero. So I didn't get to take the NFL guys in the race car like I'd hoped because we were fixing this rear-in-housing that had a line level. left loose. We ended up taking the guys around. Everybody got to do it. Josh Norman's turn comes up and they got the race car fixed. So I got to take Josh Norman in the race car and in the Camaro. And he couldn't believe the difference between the two.

He said it was a huge difference between the experience in the race car and the Chevy Camero. Oh, he said so. Positive for the race car? Yeah. Yeah. It was not even anything like the race car. So that was great for me to be able to show them a little bit about what we do. and it gave me an opportunity to meet them.

I geek out when I get around the Redskins guys. It's weird because I'm around you so much. So I'm like, oh, there's Dale. But like when these guys who we see on TV, when they geek out meeting you is weird to me. Is it? Because I, like, you're just, oh, you're Dale that I see every day, every week. And those guys are like, oh, man, it's like you put them on a pedestal.

Whereas everybody's standing around putting each other on pedestals. Well, yeah, like, it's hard to. fathom, like you lose sight of the popularity, I guess. Yeah, I get, yeah, I understand. I feel as normal as hell. So it's weird for me when they are excited to meet me, because, but I'm, I'm equally as, as excited about meeting them. After we got done with the racetrack, we did a ton of media. Once we got done with the, with the rides, rides with the football players, they ran back over to training camp to get ready, to do their work. had a lot of media to do for the racetrack, and hopefully that stuff's going to have a good

impact on their ticket sales. We ended up wrapping up over there and going to training camp. So they said they had something in store for me. Well, I wasn't really sure exactly what that was going to be and heard a bunch of rumors. We got to watch them do some work on the field, the whole teams out there, getting ready for their preseason game coming up. that was really entertaining and informative

I got to talk to Doug Williams Super Bowl winning quarterback for the skins Joe Jacoby as well who's an offensive lineman that was a big had a big impact on the team in the 80s so get to stand there and talk to those guys

they're asking me questions I'm asking them questions that was a real thrill and then as soon as they broke up their training practice session that they had, Kurt's like, hey, I want to introduce you some of the players. So Kirk takes me around and introduce me some of the individuals.

There's a guy just wandering around, you know, sign autographs. All these kids running out onto the field, they're signing autographs for them. So Kirk was nice enough to introduce me to some of the players, and I introduced myself to a few of the guys, myself, when I had the time. We went over to this little snow cone stand that Josh Norman had brought to the facility for all the kids, and we handed out snow cones for about 30 minutes. and finally, Kirk is like, come on, man, we'll throw you a couple passes. You're going to run a route, and I'm going to throw a pass.

On our way over to the field to do this, I saw Josh Norman laying on the ground doing some exercises. I said, Josh, you want to get some of this? I'm going over here to run some routes. He said, oh, yeah, you want me too? I said, yeah, of course. And so he comes over, and it was a trip. I know they were just, they dialed it way back so we could have a little fun. But having Kurt throw the ball and catching a couple passes and joking and laughing.

Me and Josh are just laughing the whole time. We're running around out there, giggling and carrying on. It's like being on a schoolyard with your buddies. For a Redskins fan, it's like heaven. Yeah, last week we talked about what you would want to be if you could be somebody for a day. And I was like, oh, I'd want to be a football player. That's what we got to do today. I know.

That's pretty crazy. I couldn't believe it. And all that video and stuff is all over social media, so everybody can get on there and critique my roots and my lack of speed. But I think that's why I did so well. I caught two of the three passes. And I think the reason why I caught the two that I did is because Norman wasn't expecting to be as slow as I was.

To be as fast as you were. No. Quick. He thought I was pretty slow. I mean, you saw the tape. I saw, yeah, I have it on my phone. Yeah. But it was great, man.

They were all great sports, really good, genuine, kind people. The whole staff, all the players, all the fans we got to meet out there is a great experience. I didn't want to leave, you know. I was talking to you about that. You go to the football games as a Panthers fan, and when you get in the stadium with all those people that are thinking the same thing you are and pulling for the team and y'all all have something in common, that feeling is rare. You know, you're hardly in situations in life where there's that much camaraderie and like-mindedness. So to be at Redskins Park today, I didn't want to leave. I want to just talk to all fans about how we're going to do this year and who's your favorite player.

And it's just great to be around people that all have the same opinion about something as you. As a Panthers fan, it was bittersweet being around Josh Norman all day. I bet it was really a pain in your butt when he handed me his gloves because I know you know I offered to hold him and you would I thought you wouldn't give them back

oh no being a I know I know you're still a Josh I like Josh he's cool I don't know

unless you're an Odell Beckham fan I don't know how you can't be a Josh Norman fan because obviously they have their issues

but he's super nice and he was in person he was exactly what he is on TV sure

which is it's rare because like you think oh they're putting on a facade yeah that was

that's who he is all the time, which is super cool. And thanks to everyone at Richmond Raceway and the Redskins, they took care of us all day. And it was a, I won't say once in a lifetime experience because we're trying to go back. Yeah, I know. I hope to go back next year. I hope to get the opportunity to continue to be around that team and around the fans of that team. And, you know, it's just really enjoyable. We don't get to do that too much with our schedule and we're racing during the season,

during the NFL season, but it was a real thrill today. All right, let's get to the Ask Junior Questions. We'll start right off with Jay Wall here. Have you seen the new Chevy for 2018? And what's your opinion? I haven't seen it. I haven't either. I don't even know what car it is.

I wouldn't know where to go to see it. I mean, this is a secret thing. Yeah, we're going to see it Thursday. Yeah. But I haven't. And then we'll think we'll have an opinion, I'm sure, right off the bat. Right. I hope that it's, you know, looks like a cool car.

that it's cool looking. But on top of that, I think, more importantly, I hope that it's badass aerodynamically. Right, which is the main thing. Yes. All right. J.L. Mayhan asks, why wipers with no rain in the forecast Sunday? Okay, let's go ahead and be honest about that. The wipers add a little downforce.

Yeah. I mean, everybody did it. Yeah. I mean, you know, we saw the Gibbs guys doing it and everybody said, why are they running those in Sonoma? when it rains four times out of the year. So yeah, don't be surprised if you're, you know, you start seeing wipers everywhere. I don't know.

Would they be against the rules at Michigan? Yeah, you can't wear. You cannot run a wiper there. Really? Because there's no prospect of running the race in the rain. No. Just like you have a- You're only allowed to have wipers at the road courses.

Yeah, because you have a rain tire. I wonder if NASCAR will. Well, I don't know. Is that, I don't know if that's a rule. I'm assuming that's a rule. Well, you know, you know that. if there is rain in the forecast, that NASCAR is likely to stop the race

and allow all the teams to change tires. Yeah. At once. When the Xfinity Series had rain in their races, didn't they pause the race and allow everyone to pit for tires? Yeah, they throw a caution. Right. They throw a caution, allow everybody to get their tires.

So there's no real strategy with the teams as far as do we want to change now, do we want to stay on slicks? Yeah. Not like you see in sports car. So maybe NASCAR comes in and says, no more windshield wipers. You can put them on if you need the tire. Which that was the way it was back in the day.

Yeah. I don't know. I mean, it's easy to get this thing on and off. Right. It's not hard to put the windshield wiper on the car. So maybe they say, you know, you can't put that on unless you have rain tires on your car. Yeah. I mean, how significant of an advantage do you think it is?

It probably doesn't matter. I mean, I probably would not know. the difference as a driver whether I had that much little additional downforce. And is it really giving you that down force or is that just something you see only in the wind tunnel? Because just make you feel like you. Sometimes things that you see in the wind tunnel don't go to the racetrack and don't happen when you're out there on the track. Is it a distraction? It is not a distraction. Because I wonder, because it's just sitting there. Yeah. You would think it would be, but it's not. Oh, this guy's name. E-global racing. E-global. There you.

you go. Man, you did great with that. As a driver, do you enjoy fuel mileage racing like we saw at the end of Sunday's race? I do. I enjoy it even more, I think, as a fan. Yeah. But is it kind of a buzz kill that Truex won? No. Well, because he's got, I mean, he's the points leader and he's got, we didn't expect him to make it. I know, but would it not be cooler if Suarez would have won? No. Kind of mixed it up, like Austin Dillon winning the 600 this year? Oh, wouldn't have been cooler for me. I mean, I like Sauras, but I'm better friends with Truex, so I was pretty excited about him when. Yeah.

I mean, I like Truex, but you just I didn't say, I mean to imply you weren't, you know, you didn't like him, but I like fuel mileage races just, I don't want one every single week. Right. I don't want that to be what we end up with every race. But it's cool that, you know, races

end in different manners. You know, sometimes there's a late yellow with a green white checker. Then you'll have a race that a guy laps the field. and then you'll have a fuel mileage finish. And I just like that, I guess I like different flavors. How stressful is that? Oh, it's real stressful as a driver.

Like whenever you're having to cut it off and cut it back on. Well, it's not really that. You just don't know whether you're going to make it. Yeah. The process of driving the car and saving the fuel is easy. It's actually easier than driving the car at a normal rate. You know, you get to go slower. You don't have to try.

You just have to get around the track. but the only thing you're worried about is, well, I got to save, but I'm saving to win. I don't want to let this guy who's also saving win, so I got to race hard enough to stay in front of him. It's very nerve-wracking

and trying to figure out whether this is going to work out in your favor or not. And when you run out short, the anger. It makes you so mad. Like that 600? Yeah. I remember being, I worked the JRN, but for some reason... It's such a kick in the gut. Yeah, I was in the stands, and I think I spiked my radio,

because I was like, damn it, it's so close. All right, H-C-A-T-Z, one, two, three. That's H-Cats. H-Kats, 1, 2, 3. How big of a change do you think NASCAR is going through with all the changes and new drivers coming in? Is this unprecedented, in your opinion? You know, that's a good question. There are a lot of young guys coming in. Typically, you know, if you look at the rookie battle over the last probably two decades. It's been pretty, pretty rare that we have an interesting rookie battle, right? There's usually a lot of times one or two guys in it, and there's like a guy that's a clear winner. Yeah. No real challenge. Like last year, I think Chase pretty much walked away with it. Yeah. So it's interesting that all these young guys are coming in all at

once. That's rare. Unprecedented, probably not. I think it's great for the sport. We need all kinds of personalities to come in and attract these younger demographic fans. I think that it's hard for a 18, 19, 20, 21 year old to relate to me or anybody in my generation. So we need NASCAR and Chase, guys like Chase, to promote hard, to get themselves out there and let people get to know who they are so they can sort of, you know, it's that impression, that first impression meeting these people one-on-one somewhere that makes them a fan for life. Right. You know, so there's a lot of legwork for this young generation to do to get that younger demographic back into the sport.

At Richard 84-188 asks, are you going to do any hunting with your extra time with the extra time you have on your hands next year? Yeah, I don't think I'm going to have extra time. Right. Particularly at that part of the season, I might have less time. I think, yeah, because we were looking at it and I was talking to Littart just about kind of how schedules work. and it sounds like you're going to be just as busy, if not more. Yeah. But I think the thing is you'll still be busy.

You'll just, it'll be less stressful. Yeah, I'm definitely not going to be putting up with the stresses of, you know, the pressure of driving the car, but there will be some nerves going into the booth for the first several times and maybe the first whole year. But I'm going to be working the booth the second half of the season, right in the middle of year season. There's a lot of work during the week that I think people were unaware of that we'll certainly be sharing with as we go through that process on our social media platforms so

people can see, you know, exactly what kind of preparation goes into the work you do on the weekend. Talking to Steve, there's a lot going on, a lot of call-ins, meetings, discussions. Obviously, there's the weekly show. NASCAR America. Yeah, and so we'll be doing that some. There's no telling what other... one of the requests that NBC is going to have for our time and I'm working for them

and going to have to fulfill their expectations. It's not going to be as casual, I think, as driving a race car. As a driver, you do take advantage of the leniency and liberties that you have, the freedom that you have, and, you know, I've always went by this, it's probably not the best attitude, but I always went by this saying that they can't start without you. If we're running late, so what? Well, that's got to go out the window.

I've got to change my entire approach to this and be on time, be ready, be prepared, be ready to apply myself. I always live by this. If you're early, you're on time. If you're on time, you're late. I like it. If you're late, that is unacceptable.

When you're going to start doing that, like living that? I know you've been, I'm always early. I know you believe it, but you've got to apply that to your life. you can't just be passing this around of advice. What have I been late? Just giving us out.

Usually on time. You need to be applying this yourself. I apply it. Okay. At James Groff asked, do you think it is still possible for a lower tier driver with great talent to make it into a higher series?

For instance, somebody like John Hunter Nebuchek. Yeah, and I like this question because John Hunter Nemechek actually responded on Twitter to the question himself with an affirmative answer that he believes you can. I think that Alex Bowman's an example of that

So I think that Kyle Larson is an example of that There's a lot of guys I mean it really helps trust me if you have talent And sponsorship Right It's a freaking awesome package for an owner But if you

Obviously if you don't have support From a corporate sponsor It does make it a much more challenging road. Josh Barry, who we talked about last week, is a perfect example. There's a few guys that'll get that opportunity,

and there's a lot that won't. You know, but it's not really... I mean, there's only so many cars, too. There are only so many cars, but, I mean, in the 1980s, you ran on a $500 to a million dollar budget. You know, cars, you know, cars are needing, there's so much more money,

needed to fund a team. And obviously, if the driver can bring some of that, it really assists the opportunity for him to get that chance in that car. It just makes it easier to want to work with that guy who has some funding, additional funding that comes with a package. It's hard for an owner to turn that down. And like you say, Josh is a perfect example. I would put Josh in a bus car, affinity car tomorrow if I could find a sponsorship willing

to work with Josh and willing to work with us on that. But we can't, you know, we haven't had that luck to find one. I can't afford to run him out of my own pocket. I go broke. Right. You know, we would go broke quickly. So that's no way to run a race team. You can't run a race team out of your own pocket.

You have to make it a profitable business. At least, you know, you have to at least aim to break even with the expectation to do so. That kind of topic sort of leads us into the last few questions. At Devin Aaron's asked, what is the cost difference between running a high Exfini team like JRM versus running a high-end cup team like Hendrick. At Junior Motorsports, one car needs about $6 million season. Your engine bill is around a million, a little bit over a million dollars, and so that's a big chunk of the expense.

I think between your crew chief and your driver, that's going to be another big chunk. I mean, you don't have a whole lot of money really for operation costs. once it's said and done to get to and from the racetrack is anywhere between 125 to $250,000 a weekend. You know, it's some of these racetracks. So it's a, you know, we can go to some of these shows and obviously operate on a much tighter budget, but it's a real, real challenge to do that. So around $6 million is a reasonable amount of money to go run up front in the Xfinity series. To race, and I can't say that I know this number precisely on.

the cup side, not as well as I do being an owner in Xfinity series. But I would think that to run competitively on the cup level, you need $20 million. It's, you know, 30 is better, obviously, and probably a little more comfortable. But I think you can do it on 20 to run up front now. I mean, there's teams that are doing this and having good results with a lot less and how, you know, but we're not talking about that. We're talking about how do you run like junior motorsports or a cup team like HMS. Well, that's going to be big numbers. Right.

And then that also leads us to McElroy 66 asks, what's your thoughts on a salary cap for teams and would it work? I don't know. You know, I don't know if that'd work or not. I think it would be near impossible to police. Right. That's the only, you know, it'd be nearly impossible to police it. There would be so much under the table and shenanigans going on.

Right. That it's not like, it's not as easy, I think, as it is in sticking ball sports to sort of police that type of stuff. Because that, you're just talking people's salaries. Yeah. This, you're talking engine budgets and cars and all sorts of stuff. And all kinds of stuff. Yeah, so nearly impossible. But I know there was some discussion last week.

The guy that's in on part owner of Petty was saying that's what they should. do so well if he has a plan and it's an amazing you know if it's a great plan then i don't know you know i don't i'd need to know you know what the plan is and how he would want to enforce all that right and what's the penalty for doing it sure um but all right that's all the questions we got for this week all right appreciate you guys writing in if you uh if you want to your if you want your question asked on this podcast going forward just uh write us at hashtag hashtag ask junior and make the question is good. Yeah, make them good, of course.

We're going to pick the ones we like. And typically, you know, if it's not about racing, that's still okay. If you love Dale Jr., then Exaltor Racing is your go-to social media account on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. It brings you Insiders info all weekend long on the 88 team. It's at Exaltor Racing, a must follow for any Dale Jr. fan. Looking ahead Thursday, we got a 2018 Chevy Car and Vail event in Detroit, so we're going to show that world, the car for 2018, the Chevy car that we're going to be part of the world. Yeah, because we haven't seen it either. We haven't seen it either. Yeah, so we're going to see it for the first time,

along with everybody else on Thursday. We'll be in Detroit to do that. Friday, practice and qualifying. Qualifying is at 505. Not 5, not 515. 5.05. Very specific. I know. I don't know why they do that. Why not just 5? So 5.05, Eastern Time, on NBC Sports Network. Write us at Write us at hashtag 505 and let us know any other things that happen in your life at random times like that. You know, everybody goes to work from 9 to 5 and, you know, there's specific, you know, you get lunch at 1230 or 12, not 12, 14 or 1226. This would be one of those things where you don't want to be late. Yeah, let us, let us know if you have any things that happen in your weekly activities, they're odd-timed events. So 505 is pretty rare.

Saturday we got two practices. We got the Xfinity race in Mid-Ohio at 3.30. That's a better number, 330? It's, yeah, reasonable. Better than 335. So we got a Xfinity race at Mid-Ohio at 3.30 Eastern on NBC Sports Network. So we'll all be tuning into that. That's a great race to watch.

This is the one where it poured rain last year. Oh. Yeah. Yeah. I went to Mid-Ohio a couple times. Did you? It wasn't my favorite track. No?

No. Huh. You should go? there one day. You never know, CUP might end up going there. I doubt it. Okay.

Well, we got two practices to be able to dial in our cup car there at Michigan, so those will be important. I think one's at like 8.30 a.m. Yeah, hopefully the weather's good for us to get our car, you know, give our car some opportunity to get worked on because I'm sure we're going to be wanting to find some speed. Sunday, the race is at 3 o'clock. Another nice time.

Still late, but at least it's rounded up. 3 o'clock Eastern on NBC Sports Network. Did you see the comments by the Watkins Glen? The Watkins Glen track promoter. Yeah, he was really... He was very disappointed in the late start time. I mean, I know a lot of people have complained about that, but that was the most aggressive.

Aggressive complaint I've ever heard. Yeah, it seemed like people don't like the qualifying on the same day, which XFendi has done it for the longest time. And I don't know that NASCAR likes it a lot. I've heard some rumors that they, you know, there's possibility that they could change qualifying to lay. Saturday and do practice and qualify in the same day. But I was surprised to hear the promoter speak out and be honest.

It was breath fresh air. How refreshing was that for you? I was surprised. But hey, if you don't speak up, then they don't know. Nobody's ever going to know. Yeah. Yeah. So that was crazy.

He was very supportive of moving the times forward. He had heard from fans that they weren't coming back because of how late. Plus, if you put it in the media. Yeah. He said he had fans say they're not coming back. Yeah, they had an awesome crowd over the weekend. They did. That was, it was, you know, that was great to see.

All the drivers could tell a big, you know, tell a big difference in the crowd and made calm into that. That's a great racetrack. I've also heard some secrets that, rumors that they might be experiencing with the idea of running the boot there. The boot? And, yeah, extending the length of the lap, running using the boot section of the racetrack. I actually rode on bicycle around that Saturday. I think the racing in the boot would be fun. What it?

Yeah. I ran it on eye racing. one time. Hard? And I went, well, see, I've always grown up watching NASCAR races there, so I'm accustomed to the NASCAR track. Yeah. So the turns caught me off guard.

I wasn't prepared for, so I crashed. Okay. Just because you were. Also, on Sunday night, want to mention cars that made America will be debuting on History Channel. Okay. And you are the executive producer of this. So this is something that we got involved with recently.

We did a lot of interviews for this particular show. and I've seen the footage. It's very informative and tells you a lot about how a lot of the big manufacturers got started. And their stories aren't exactly what you think. And it was rag-tag, a little bit Wild West, and some crazy times. Yeah, and this is like a reenactment, and it's very well done. Very well done. I was really proud to be a part of it.

Please tune in Sunday, Right. Yeah, on History Channel. All right. Well, that's a great show. Appreciate you guys tuning in. Tyler, thanks. Absolutely. All right. We'll see you guys next week. See ya. The Dale Jr. download and all Dirtymo Radio podcasts are made possible by Exalta. You can subscribe to all eight programs on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud, and all major podcasting outlets. As always, you can listen to Dirtymo Radio podcast on Dale Jr.com. Follow us on Twitter at Dale Jr. at Overre.

Street, Tyler, and at Dirty Mo Radio. Also, check out the Dirty Mo Radio Facebook page. Thanks for listening to Dirty Moe Radio.